Some of these are ridiculously priced. The first one - $95 - could be replicated by hanging a string of beads on a wire hanger on a doorknob. And it would be safer, as there would be no large pieces of wood to potentially fall on the baby.

And why all wood - which is not flexible for storage? There are many options out there that would fit a small space better than these.

that first picture, the toy doesn't look to stable. A bit guillotine-like, the way it's hanging over that poor baby...

*too

I love wood toys if they're truly eco-friendly! But, yowza, that first picture is an obvious strangulation hazard once the baby starts to pull himself up or if an unsuspecting caregiver uses it for standing practice. That's poorly thought-out and irresponsible design, in my opinion.

Also, why is that baby's cloth diaper on the outside of his pants in that first picture?! This product seems produced and marketed by folks who have never been around babies.

DC, it says right in the post why wood: it is beautiful. The poster didn't want to have to stash it away in a closet, she wanted to be able to display it. I think wooden toys are really nice; they are durable and beautiful, and a nice change from the bajillion plastic toys you normally see.

That said, some of those prices are a bit ridiculous. Handcrafted stuff is nice and all, but I think I'd just try to make friends with someone with a few power tools instead. ;)

Trig, for the short amount of time that babies actually use baby gyms, I don't believe that the investment in something beautiful, for display, is necessarily worth it. Babies develop quickly. (The baby in the first picture, in any case, doesn't look particularly stimulated.)

But to each his own!

thank you! i actually clicked through to try and figure out if i was seeing the same thing! :) cloth diapering is great, but um, you have to have the cloth on the baby. maybe they just wanted to show off the cover. oh well.

chels.m - the baby pictured is wearing a cloth diaper with babylegs - kind of like leg warmers for babies. They make it easy to change a diaper without having to wrestle with pants, while keeping the baby warm and cozy.

If you're a handy person and you own a drill, you can make one of these yourself with some dowels or wooden posts that you can get at most hardware stores or Home Depot. That way you can customize it any way you want with paint or stain and it's much cheaper.

I think that baby has leggings on, like Babylegs. But more importantly, HELLO! A string with felted balls on it is 100% inappropriate as a baby toy! I knew immediately that it was something from etsy, because no manufacturer would ever be allowed to sell that. It's a big fat safety NO.

Even if I didn't know therices on these, the IKEA one is the only one I'd pick. The first is a tragedy waiting to happen, the rest are far too plain to really entertain their target audience. Babies that young need color!

Choking hazard death trap.

I think the most environmentally friendly option is to get a used tacky plastic one and pass it on. These are used for such a short period of time that it seems wasteful to invest in a special wooden one. Sharing baby items is where it's at.

Ikea, as usual, FTW.

Or get something from Craigslist. These prices are laughable.

Hello DC
This gym is extremely stable and bolts together for stability (in mere seconds), it will not fall apart and secondly it comes apart very easily for storage. How would you attach a wire hanger to a doorknob to make it safe??? This play gym is so stable many kids end up playing with it for years into toddler stage as a tent fort, puppet stand ... etc.

I think the term "baby gym" is causing a bit of confusion about what some of these products are, especially the first picture. Some of these are actually meant to be a Montessori-type "toy hanger" for use before an infant can sit up. In Montessori, the baby is supposed to be down, free to move on her own, many times throughout the day. A toy hanger is placed over a baby to provide visual stimulation at first (which would make a string of felt balls not dangerous, as the baby can't reach or grab yet). Later, when she can start to grasp, a dangling toy with an elastic string is placed on the hanger with a ring or bell to encourage grasping. Of course, the hanger would have to be sturdy enough that the baby could pull it down. Also, Montessori assumes that someone is observing the baby in order to take away the toy when the baby has had enough or to change it when she is bored. The box will tell you these are not suitable for a baby who can sit up. That said, we bought the Plan Toys one for $60 from Amazon, used it for the 1-year-old, will use it for the new one on the way, any additional bambinos, and it is quality enough to pass on. Just depends on what you're looking for. I felt the plastic ones are just too stimulating -- too much.

hello chels.m

As the listing for this play-gym states it does not come with the beads pictured. Common sense is left up to the buyer, irresponsible is leaving any baby unattended.

Also chels.m .... The babies diaper is not on the outside, the baby has a wool diaper cover over cloth diapers and if you were to read this producers literature you would discover that they have three kids they raised using cloth diapers and proven all their products with their own children. They handmake everything.

I think it's irresponsible to show a photo of your product's usage that you believe to be unsafe, and then expect people to use "common sense." Come on.

Hello tequila red

Where does it state anywhere that the provider believes the product is unsafe? The baby is immobile and if you would read the actual listings these type of structures are intended for sensory development in babies. Seems like not to many posters here are familiar with sensory development or Montessori principles for babies and infants.

I've said this before on this site, but I'll say it again. These are all pretty, but several of them do not look very interesting for a baby. I don't know anything about "Montessori toy hangers," but baby gyms are for very young babies (under 6 months), usually for practicing tummy time. If you think they are unattractive, just don't have one- put your baby on a blanket on her tummy and put some toys in front of her or dangle them over her. Pretty soon she will be turning over and just playing. My kids liked the crinkly material of their gym mat, the music it played, the mirror that was attached, and the brightly colored hanging toys. Not many babies will be interested in the gym with the brown hanging shapes or the cloud. I think this is one of those things that, should you choose to use, you are better getting one that looks like a baby thing, use it for a couple of months, and pass it along when you are done.

I think the most environmentally friendly thing we did was to just buy a $1 bendable and storable cloth/plastic atrocity from a garage sale. We passed it on and its on its 5th owner. Not bad for less than 25 cents per person! These prices are ri-dunkdunk.

IKEA, no brianer. The rest are ridic. Spend the $29 @ Ikea and put the rest in their 529 account. $242??? Come ON

I was so happy to see Highland Wood's play gym. After reading the rude comments, I was sad to see that people can say such crazy things. I love my play gym. I can add any natural toy and take it away to replace with others. It's so well made and this will never fall on top of your baby as some people have written. Our boy is now walking and he uses it as a play tent.
It may not be for everybody but I love the natural look and hate plastic.This was so worth every penny.

From a design perspective many of these are beautiful -- but once I had my son I had to rethink things because he was so active and would kick (hard!) against the sides of his play gym -- these wooden ones would have been really bad for him! And like a few other posters, we got a cloth/plastic one second hand, and quickly passed it onto another friend after he was done with it. We had a similar issue with wooden toys, which (while certainly much more beautiful) are also much louder and heavier when dropped on the floor, onto his head, etc etc. But I know families have different priorities -- and equally importantly, different kinds of children!

I don't think it can be stressed enough that the "gym" shown in the first photo is a hanging hazard. I don't care what the manufacturer says about "safe" use. Some parents may not read the warning and may be oblivious to the danger.

We bought the Hape Gym for our baby. I tried to find the Ikea one, because I agree that it's more reasonably priced, but no luck. Is it not manufactured anymore?

The Hape gym was a huge success with my little boy. He lay underneath it when very young and slowly was able to bat at the toys with more and more dexterity over time. It entertained him for long periods of time and gave me a lot of freedom. Now, even though he's developed enough to play comfortably on his belly and prop himself up, he still likes to push himself up and reach at the toys. One of them has a mirror underneath, another a bell. He loved it and I enjoyed having something around the house I thought was beautiful.

I'm no die-hard wooden toy devotee, though. We also got an ugly plastic jumperoo - used from Craigslist - once he decided he loved standing and bouncing all the time. But even at 20 weeks now, he'll sometimes revisit the old wooden play gym. I do wish there were simpler, more nicely designed jumperoo type things. And I believe there IS a way to have something colorful and stimulating for baby without having stickers and cartoon characters and a horrid mishmash of colors that make the adults want to puke.

I agree that there should be more reasonably priced, well designed, not ugly wooden gyms out there, though.

Sometimes it amazes me what little common sense there is left in the world. Does anyone actually observe and watch their children or just leave a toy to baby-sit?

As a few others eloquently stated, these toy hangers are designed for a Montessori styled form of development. The very young child (4-8 weeks) is placed underneath a hanging object of visual attractiveness. As their undeveloped eyes learn to focus, they will soon after gain the ability to act on their environment and bat at the hanging object. Once the child can roll over, one would want to remove the hanging toys. The toy hanger can then be used by an older child as a play tent by draping a blanket over the top. We bought a Michael Olaf toy hanger (quite similar to the first one) and we consider it one of the better purchases we made. High-quality wood objects, that are multi-purpose, reduce the number of annoying, plastic, one-trick ponies so often marketed to kids today. My daughter is two, and we've tried to give her opportunities to interact with objects of real materials (not synthetic materials.) The end result being she has a much greater respect for both her belongings and ours.

Just because a particular parenting methodology is foreign to you doesn't provide an opportunity to bash mom and pop entrepeneurs who care deeply about their products and children. I'm a huge fan of Highland Wood and think their products to be beautiful and practical, a rarity in our consumer driven Wal-Mart mass-produced world.

My daughter had the IKEA gym because I didn't want plastic and I didn't want to spend a lot. She LOVED it. I can't recommend it enough. Actually, IKEA toys in genral are great. They're inexpensive, but not cheap plastic and they're quirky. Even my daughter's lovie is from there. Of all her sweet stuffed animals she fixated on a rat. Go figure.

I haven't read the other posts, so I apologise if I'm repeating what others have said.
I don't think $95 is expensive for a handmade piece of furniture. I am sure many hours went into making those pieces.
That said, #1 looks like a strangulation hazard.
I do love #19 though.

That first baby has my idea of how to work out.

I have to laugh my @#$^% off that people think that new born can lift itself up to be strangled by that toy. It's not a toddler sitting and playing with it. Now that would be dangerous.
Hello people.... it's a newborn in the photo.
This type of toy for that age is fine. I can clearly see that it can be taking off and replaced with another toy when needed.
No common sense these days. One should read their write up on this play gym before writing such rude remarks.
Shame on the haters.

truly, as many people have pointed out, the only one worth actually buying is the one from ikea. we'll be making our own and passing it on to our siblings as their babies are born if they want it. it's completely crazy to me what people are willing to spend on "attractive" kid toys. i get not wanting to look at ugly stuff but spending so much money on a toy that will only bore your kid is a waste waste waste.

Good luck buying the Ikea one. It is always out of stock. We have the Hape one and like it plus like that it will be used by many kids after ours. It can be unscrewed for storage.

As for the first one, that baby isn't even close to being old enough to get into trouble. And when it is, I am sure they will replace the toys. Shessh.